I'm so sorry that it has been so long since I have been here. >.<Unfortunately, with my full-time job and my various health issues, I really haven't had much time.

For those of you who don't know, Lucretia Aleron is (one of) my pen name(s), and that blog has at least been updated more recently (though I probably shouldn't call four months ago recently).Still, here's my life in a nut shell right now.

HealthThe things I mentioned in my last post here:~The burn has scarred over, so it's quite lovely.~The tingling in my fingers is carpel tunnel, and it's not fun.

Now, that said, I also have some groovy neuropathic pain that makes my life tons and tons of fun, as well as arthritis, cysts on my feet, and a new issue that will be the most fun I've had without lubricant, I'm sure.

My health, though below par, is steady and I am getting back to my writings.

FanfictionThough my passion for my stories does not fail, it is a sad fact that I've had little time to write on these. I praise you all for your patience with me, though. None of my stories (in progress) are dead or stopped. I just haven't had the time to write them and post.

Original FictionThough I am playing around with quite a few of these, only two or three see any real progress right now and that's just sad, considering. I got my second novella rejection in late February, but it really hasn't hurt my spirits too badly, considering. I'll have to see what open calls are up today and see what else I can work toward in the hopes of being published. I'm not giving up on that.

WorkWell, I had two jobs for a while there, though I'm back down to the original one. Let me tell you, the grass is not always greener. I am currently looking for a job that involves less time on my feet, but prospects are slim.

Personal ThingsI went out drinking last Friday with a few friends and it was the most fun I've had in ages. Dear Shiva, I need to do that again with them soon!Lost my cell phone last week, so I'll have to get a new one soon. Whoever has my phone right now has been texting my sister. Keep it classy.Got my anime fix with season one of Blood +. It might just inspire a re-write for "As You Wish". Too soon to tell, though.

Love and all those wonderful things, from your friendly neighborhood sinner!

First off, my foot has healed up after two or three weeks of physical therapy. I had managed to strain my tendon most of the way up my calf, so it took a bit of work.

Then, a few weeks later, I attempted to give myself a nice concussion at work. I just rang my bell pretty hard --no concussion.

This past week, I dropped a hot pan on my arm, so I have a very pretty burn that makes my life difficult.

I also have noticed some tingling, stiffness, and pain in two of my fingers. Yay.

That's the health update so far.

I've barely had time to do much more than work and sleep. We've been pretty... swamped at work recently, so I have about six hours of overtime this week assuming I go in for all my scheduled shifts and don't stay over any longer or get called in for another emergency. I'm working six days a week and there's not been much else getting done, aside from doctors' appointments, food runs, putting gas in the car... and some very rare shopping.

I have been working on an awesome present for one friend --and then promptly suffered through my own birthday. I don't know how I feel about being 22. I'll let you know in a few months, haha.

I believe I mentioned in my last post that I was having some trouble with my feet.The nurse practitioner I saw got stuck on the lumps on my feet --which are ganglion cysts, by the way.So once I got past the very-freaked-out-and-intend-to-stay-that-way portion of things, I actually got a second opinion on the problem this about a week ago.My doctor says my pain is from my tendon. I've strained or damaged it in some fashion --which I admit makes more sense than the pain being from the cysts I've had for several years. So anti-inflammatories and recheck as needed.So now that I'm pretty sure death isn't imminent, I'm calmer.I tore a hole in my leg (and my favorite work pants) on a piece of rusty machinery, so I needed a tetanus booster. That was a big barrel of fun. Well, actually, the man who administered the shot did it more painlessly than I've ever experienced before, so I can't complain on that one.Well, except for the "moderate" reaction: swelling and pain at the injection site. At least that's mostly subsided now...I'm running here and there and everywhere, it seems. If it's not work, it's shopping or walking or laundry or chores or anything else you can imagine.

I'm always tired, no matter what I do... and it's concerning. I mean, there's a history of several conditions in my family and one of the warning signs for many of them is fatigue.

Guess a recheck for my foot will give me an oppertunity to bring it up, right?

Alright! Now, for good news: I've posted the third chapter for "Passionate", my Xenosaga fanfiction!For those of you who've read it... you're probably going, Finally she gets off her lazy ass!Especially since it was last updated over a year ago. Whatever. You're welcome! And, as always, it's here first --it won't be on ff.net until I get around to posting it tomorrow after work.With no further ado, I now present to you my bed time.Your Most Diligent Sinner,~Sins~

You know, I hate it when I'm not getting hours, but I also hate getting 20 hours a week. Damn, but there is no pleasing me!The upside: PAYCHECK.The downside(s): My new manager is a moron, everyone at my work seems to be getting sick, I'm still not fully trained, and did I mention my new manager is an idiot?Well, I'm still (barely) finding time to write. Still working on that novella right now... and I love my sexy characters... I just need to figure out some more about them.I'm not doing so hot on the sleeping thing. It's either too much or not enough.I have no idea what's wrong with my foot --but I finally get to see my doctor on Monday, which is exciting. Maybe he'll know what the hell it is.I picked up my old filthy habit again. It keeps me from killing people.I'm walking four to five miles a night with my sis for stress relief and weight loss. I'm down a few inches in some places and five pounds in total. We've only been at this for about a month.I'm vaguely obsessed with Lord of the Rings at the moment. It might be because Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch are in the Hobbit films though.No, I'm kidding: it's because of Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortisen, and Hugo Weaving.Yes, yes. Hormones on parade and all that.I learned how to drive stick-shift, which is interesting.I've been driving myself to work this week, and it has been an experience. We had fog thick enough to cut with a spoon this morning, and I got to drive through it. Then I had to pick up my sister this afternoon --in an automatic, of course, so I spent the entire drive looking for the non-existant clutch peddle....I think that's pretty much everything?I'll catch you all on the flip-side, my darlings.A Most Diligent Sinner,~Sins~

I was just fooling about on my Twitter account tonight when one of the authors who work at Dreamspinner Press posed this question:What is your favorite sin and why?My answer was "lust", of course.And so, it is sort of poetic that such a diligent sinner as myself won a copy of the audiobook for "Sinner's Gin" by Rhys Ford!

I've run across this ecard on a site I use... And I love the pairing of "Howl's Moving Castle" with a Tolkien quote...

I guess I've reached that point in my life. You know the one: where you look back with near perfect hindsight and wonder... As I wander story to story, trying to find the inspiration to write, I find myself there...

I've discovered a cashe of forgotten pages, added a few new ones (oh, my Gaia, a HOME PAGE!?!)... and I'm pretty sure I have a few pages that just need to go and have their content separated and added to other pages...

I forgot how many computer issues can be solved with a set of eye-glass screwdrivers, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and q-tips....Scary fan-rattle that made me think my computer was going to explode? Now a thing of the past!No thanks to my brother who just made me more paranoid until I fixed the damn thing with a screwdriver.

Oh, and my headphone port works again! That's a happy thing!

It's actually the most recent in a streak of computer troubles.

I actually lost everything, aside from what I could download from the interwebs not more than two weeks ago...'

I had to install a new OS --then reinstall it at least twice more.

Still, computer trouble can't keep me down long before I get inventive and make the damn thing work!

Speaking of which, I got another issue that I'm going to have to fix before it drives me insane >.<

I have a new story idea, for all of the Final Fantasy VII fans out there!(Of course, I fully intend to write it myself. I just want to share~ )So far, I want to call it "Matchmaker, Matchmaker".

I was greatly inspired by this story called "Vanilla" [by Sorceress Fantasia] on ff.net. On the surface, the plot will sound really similar, but it will be very different, I promise!Aditional inspiration came from another fan-fiction called "Suburbia" [by Falaphesian], Supernatural (created by Eric Kripke), a handful of songs so far ("Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon; "Big Girls Don't Cry" - Fergie; "Demons" - Imagine Dragons; "Titanium" - David Guetta feat. Sia; "Everybody Talks" - Neon Tress), and a 1999 novel called "A Ghost For Maggie" by Emily Charmichael.

Anyway! I wanted to try a new pairing --one I'd never written before-- and none of my in-progress works would let me do that (well, one of them might, but only if I make it part of a set >.<).What pairing, you ask?Cloud Strife and Vincent Valentine.

I know I've never attempted anything like this before... and it is intimidating, but I really want to take a shot at it.

The plot summary:This was not how things were supposed to go. Tifa wasn't supposed to die and leave her best friend Cloud all alone, she wasn't supposed to come back as a ghost, and she sure as hell wasn't supposed to slip into Cloud's body and convience the dark and mysterious Valentine to take a chance on a relationship with Cloud! To think he'd been missing her, faults and all!

I know, I know. It sounds so similar, if you checked out the other story... so I'll give a little more detail...

Plot Synopsis:Six months after the death of his best friend, Cloud Strife is still attempting to cope by avoiding having the time or clarity of mind to dwell on Tifa. For a long time, Tifa had been his only friend, so she left him her bar to run in an effort to get him out more. Instead, Cloud has withdrawn more into himself.Tifa's spirit, unable to find peace because of her sould-deep worry for her friend, has been wandering the earth for those same six months. Actually, she's just stayed pretty close to Cloud while she tried to figure out the tricks of the trade for a ghost. Finally, she's made enough progress to move things, appear before people, and --more importantly-- possess the living, at least for a while.Convinced that if left to his own devices, Cloud will probably kill himself or wind up alone, Tifa hatches a plan to get her best friend together with the only other person she can think of who knows how lost Cloud feels: Vincent Valentine. Even before the plan forms fully, she knows that Cloud will not have the persistance to talk to the other man -let alone the understanding that they both need this chance- but Tifa's got that covered...First things first, she had to snap him out of that stupid funk and get him to open the doors of her precious business.

It promises to be a rather dark story, at least at first. Cloud's not exactly got a great history (Vincent's won't be much better) and there is an honest to goodness poltergeist --and some personal demons (a few of which are more literal than others...)-- involved intricately in the plot.

As you probably guessed, it's an AU story. Nope, it's not going to fit with any other story I've written, but I have high hopes for it, because I am so pumped to write it right now~ I've already written most of one scene for the story --the first meeting, in point of fact! I am so stoked to work on this one!